oneworld airline staff in humanitarian mission to Bangkok

23 April 2009

Almost 100 volunteer staff from oneworld® member airlines and the alliance's central team are in Bangkok this week on the second oneworld employee humanitarian mission.

The volunteers - ranging from pilots and flight attendants to marketing executives - are spending five days in the Thai capital, working on a range of children's charity projects in the city's Klong Toey area, in association with the local charity the Human Development Foundation.

These range from decorating an AIDS hospice for children, establishing vegetable gardens at orphanages, building work on a pre-school for underprivileged toddlers, repairs to a half-way home for street kids and other community services, at the Mercy Centre and Home, Romklao School and Lock 6 Pre-School and other community facilities.

oneworld's first humanitarian 18 months ago - when some 50 volunteers worked on a range of charity projects in Johannesburg - was believed to be the first of its kind carried out by any of the global airline alliances anywhere worldwide.

This year's mission is again being led by the Qantas Cabin Crew Team, an organisation led by flight attendants at the Australian airline which supports charities around the worldwide network served by the carrier. Around 30 of its members, supported by colleagues from the airline based in Bangkok, will be taking part in this week's operation.

Working alongside them this week will be some 20 representatives from Airline Ambassadors, a counterpart association at American Airlines.

They are joined by 15 volunteers from British Airways, another 15 from Cathay Pacific Airways and a couple from Japan Airlines and oneworld's central alliance team.

Besides giving up their time and skills, the volunteers are covering their own costs for the trip and taking time off from their annual vacation allowances. They are paying for materials for the projects they are working on through their on-going fund-raising activities.

oneworld brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business - American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malév Hungarian Airlines, Qantas and Royal Jordanian, and around 20 affiliates including American Eagle, Dragonair, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru. Mexicana and its affiliate Click Mexicana will join the alliance in 2009.

Diese Fluggesellschaften:

Serve almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries, with some 9,000 daily departures.

Offer nearly 550 airport lounges for premium customers.

Carry some 320 million passengers a year.

Employ 250,000 people.

Operate almost 2,500 aircraft.

Generate more than US$100 billion annual revenues.

Itis the only alliance with any airlines based in Australia, South America or Asia's Middle East.

The alliance enables its members to offer their customers more services and benefits than any airline can provide on its own. These include a broader route network, opportunities to earn and redeem frequent flyer miles and points across the combined oneworld network and more airport lounges. oneworld also offers more alliance fares than any of its competitors.